


Flows Like Stone

by Dirty_Corza



Series: Polluted Waters [1]
Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Gen, Merpeople
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-10
Updated: 2012-12-10
Packaged: 2017-11-20 19:10:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/588690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dirty_Corza/pseuds/Dirty_Corza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>221B, could it be what John needs it to be?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flows Like Stone

He didn't want their pity. He never had. He hadn't volunteered to help protect his people so he could return a hero, he had gone to protect them and fight for something he believed. If his brother couldn't accept that, well, there wasn't much John could do about it other than leave. Hadn't he seen that? When everyone in town new him, when they all stared as he swam down main street, eyes ever drawn to the terrible scar down his fin, John couldn't live in that same small town any longer.

That was what brought him to Dahab, the big city, shining in the Mediterranean sea. He wasn't invisible here, but fewer people stared. And those that did rarely felt the need to take him aside to talk to him, to thank him for his services. Here, he was one of many wounded making their homes instead of being the only man from the village who had gone to the war, let alone come home broken.

It was with only slight trepidation he arrived at 221B. There was a man here, looking for a roommate, or so he had heard. And the landlady, Mrs. Hudson, was rumored to be very nice. But he had no idea what to expect from the other man. His friend who had suggested it had merely laughed, insisting he had to meet him for himself. So it was he stared into the mouth of the unassuming cave, well tended seaweed lightly swaying in the current that flowed past.

He was just about to ring the bell beside the opening when a face appeared from around a bend in the tunnel. A regal face, with eyes that sparkled darkly, framed by silver hair carefully tucked back into a net. It was followed by a feminine figure, one that was undoubtedly shapely in its prime, her fin a pale lavender that must have once been a vibrant violet. 

“You must be John.” she said as she swam forward to meet him, taking his hands and leaning up to kiss his cheeks in a very matronly way. “I am Mrs. Hudson. Sherlock said you'd be coming, he's expecting you. Come along.” She turned to lead the way down the corridor of stone, hardly giving his torn fin a second glance before he was shown inside. Pale pink stone surrounded them, with openings on the sides for a small series of caves Mrs Hudson said was empty at the moment, her own caves, a garden, and then, furthest from the entrance, there was the final set of caves, with the faint sound of music coming from behind a seaweed curtain over the entrance.

“Sherlock likes his privacy, which is just as well since he's... Well. You'll see.” She gestured for him to go ahead. “I'll let you boys make this introduction in peace.”


End file.
